The disingenuous senator from Oklahoma

By
Dan Malouff

Yesterday in this space Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) argued the federal government should not oversee safety for subway systems like Metrorail, and that his hold on a widely supported bipartisan bill to do so is justified because subways "are not interstate systems, and therefore the federal government has zero authority." Coburn goes on to say that "Ignoring local government is a trend we have to reverse if we are ever going to recover economically."

Excuse me?

The same Sen. Coburn who has repeatedly votedagainst D.C. voting rights dares to lecture Washingtonians about supporting local government? And just exactly where does the senator think Metro goes, if its service connecting Maryland and Virginia to the national capital is not "interstate"?

It is clear that Coburn is disingenuously picking and choosing arguments to support his own dogmatic opposition to any and all government regulation. As a District resident who would very much like both more local authority and a safer transit system, I do not appreciate Coburn's meddling.

With all due respect, sir, our lives should not be subject to your political grandstanding.

Dan Malouff is an Arlington County transportation planner who blogs independently at BeyondDC.com. The Local Blog Network is a group of bloggers from around the D.C. region who have agreed to make regular contributions to All Opinions Are Local.

Metro is not the only transit system in the country that crosses state lines. Off the top of my head, PATCO in Philadelphia, PATH in New York, and Metrolink in Saint Louis have multi-state subway lines.